The Book or the Movie?

 

by Jennifer AlLee

As a rule, if a book has been made into a movie or TV show, I like to read the book before I watch it. But right now, I'm trying something different. I'm watching the TV series Under the Dome and I'm reading the book by Stephen King at the same time.

Talk about fiction shock!

I'm used to there being major differences between the written story and the visual one. Most of the time, it's necessary. Take Gone With the Wind... as if dealing with the entire Civil War wasn't enough, Scarlett's antics produced three children in the book. Even after removing the existence of two of those kids in the movie, it still clocked in at three hours.

At 1088 pages, Under the Dome is a pretty hefty book. Naturally, one would expect some changes, although as a TV series, there's a lot more time to tell the story. What surprises me is how little of the details in the book have made it onto the small screen.

Both are in a town called Chester's Mill that has found itself covered by a mysterious Dome (like the one in The Simpsons' Movie). And a lot of the characters' names are the same. But that's it. Ages, occupations, marital status, even mortal status is up for grabs. Yes, one character that's a focal point of the TV series is actually dead by the time you're a couple chapters into the book.

It's an interesting exercise in what makes fiction click. There are some things that just plain work better when you see them rather than read them. When an animal gets cut in half by the Dome, the visual impact is much greater when it's a large cow that's sliced long ways down the middle, creating a mirror image on either side of the barrier (as in the TV series) than when it's a cute little gopher cut across the middle with its head on one side and his tail on the other (as in the book).

Now it's your turn. What's your favorite book turned into a movie? (I expect some lively conversation from the Austen fans out there!) Is there a movie that made so many odd changes to the storyline you wonder why they optioned the book in the first place?



JENNIFER ALLEE was born in Hollywood, California, and spent her first ten years living above a mortuary one block away from the famous intersection of Hollywood & Vine. Now she lives in the grace-filled city of Las Vegas, which just goes to prove she’s been blessed with a unique life. When she’s not busy spinning tales, she enjoys playing games with friends, attending live theater and movies, and singing at the top of her lungs to whatever happens to be playing on the car radio. Although she’s thrilled to be living out her lifelong dream of being a novelist, she considers raising her son to be her greatest creative accomplishment. She's a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Christian Authors Network, and the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance. Her novels include The Pastor’s Wife, The Mother Road and A Wild Goose Chase Christmas from Abingdon Press; Diamond in the Rough and Vanishing Act, the first two books in the Charm and Deceit series, from Whitaker House and co-written with Lisa Karon Richardson; and the novella Comfort and Joy in the Christmas anthology, Mistletoe Memories from Barbour.

Visit Jennifer's website at www.jenniferallee.com/